Perfect Whole Wheat Bread

• Vegetarian

• Refrigerated

  • 1 Egg

• Baking & Spices

  • 2 tbsp Active dry yeast
  • 3 cups All-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup Brown sugar, packed light
  • 1/2 tsp Granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp Salt
  • 3 cups Whole wheat flour

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 1 tbsp Oil

• Dairy

  • 4 tbsp Butter
  • 1 cup Milk

• Liquids

  • 1 cup Water

Found on thewoksoflife.com

Description

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast (about 17 grams)
• ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted
• ⅓ cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups whole wheat flour (each cup weights about 140 grams)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (each cup weights about 130 grams)
• 1 tablespoon oil

Directions

• Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let stand for 15 minutes until foamy.
• While the yeast is working, whisk together the melted butter, light brown sugar, egg, milk, and salt. Make sure everything is dissolved and thoroughly combined. With the mixer on low, add the whole wheat flour to the milk mixture, one cup at a time.
• Now add the foamy yeast liquid to the dough, keeping the mixer on low speed until you get a well combined wet dough mixture (see the photo). This process will take a few minutes. Now it’s time to add the all-purpose flour, ½ cup at a time, with the mixer still at low speed.
• If the dough is still wet, add one tablespoon of flour at a time, until the dough “lifts” from the sides of the mixing bowl. Try not to add too much flour, though. The dough should be soft without sticking to your hands or the mixing bowl. Once the dough ball is formed, knead the dough for another 5 to 7 minutes. The additional kneading helps generate more gluten, and gluten is what gives the bread its signature texture!
• Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel, and let it proof at room temperature for 1 hour, or until it doubles in size.
• While the dough is proofing, grease two loaf pans with butter, and set them aside. I usually just rub a cold stick of butter along the sides and bottoms of the pans.
• Once the dough is done with the first hour of proofing, punch it down, and put it back in the mixer. Mix the dough on low speed for 3 to 5 minutes to get rid of any air bubbles. Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a loaf, and place into each of your greased loaf pans.
• Cover the loaves once again with your clean kitchen towel, and let them proof for another 30 minutes at room temperature, until almost doubled in size. (The dough will continue to rise during baking as well.)
• While the dough is proofing, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Before putting the loaves in the oven, quickly brush the tops with oil. Bake for 30-35 minutes. If the color of the bread gets too dark, tent the loaves with aluminum foil.
• After baking, carefully take the loaves out of the baking pan, and let them cool on a rack. If not, hot steam will moisten the crust, which you don’t want! Once the bread is completely cooled, store them in zip-top bags.